We’re so proud to have been part of Cesar Solis Community Park, a 20-acre, joint-use #park now open in the community of #OceanHills. In association with @SchmidtDesignGroup, we were part of the team that created an active park featuring a comfort station, a concession building and picnic/shade shelters as well as two softball fields with a soccer field overlay, tennis courts, a skate park, playgrounds and more. The park, named for retired Assistant San Diego Police Chief Caesar Solis (who became the department’s highest ranking Filipino American), is home to the first #skatepark in southern San Diego. #PWAdesigns #architecture #parkdesign #masterplanning #greenbuilding
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Leadership Change
We’re excited for a year of leadership transition in 2019 at Platt/Whitelaw. Longtime Platt/Whitelaw architects Naveen Waney and Sandra Gramley move into ownership and management of our firm while Alison Whitelaw will continue working and providing support to Sandy and Naveen throughout the year. As always, we are grateful to all our clients, friends and colleagues who have helped make our firm successful over more than six decades! #PWAdesigns #succession #architecture
Holiday Giving
In the spirit of holiday giving, we identified a local family in need and created a giving tree with ornaments that featured Christmas gift wishes from each family member. Our staff and firm filled those wishes and sent the gifts to the family. To support our fellow Californians affected by the devastating wildfires, we also contributed to the Camp Fire Disaster Fund through the North Valley Community Foundation. #PWAdesigns #holidaygiving #campfire #givingtree #peaceonearth
Insta: Our giving tree with ornaments that featured Christmas gift wishes from a family in need. Our staff and firm filled those wishes. To support our fellow Californians affected by the devastating wildfires, we contributed to the Camp Fire Disaster Fund through the North Valley Community Foundation.
Retirement
Did you hear our big news? Last week, we announced that 2019 will see a changing of the guard at Platt/Whitelaw as the oh-so-talented @NaveenWaney and @SandraGramley take the management reins from @AlisonWhitelaw as she phases into retirement over the next year. Expect the same great service and skills, though! Thanks to our friends/family/clients/colleagues who joined us at the Lafayette Hotel. #PWAdesigns #succession #founded1955
Mackenzie Sims Wins Student Design Award from AIA San Diego
We’re proud to announce that Platt/Whitelaw Architects’ Mackenzie Sims won AIA San Diego’s student award at the 2018 Design Awards, held at Green Acre NautilusGreen Acre NautilusGreen Acre Nautilus. The award recognized her examination of research-based design for schools, using Monte Vista Elementary School in Vista, California as an example.
Her design strategies focused on students’ physical and neurological enrichment needs for diverse, appealing environments and on positioning the school as the “third teacher” by piquing curiosity, encouraging exploration, and ultimately enhancing student creativity.
Our firm was well represented at the design awards, as Platt/Whitelaw Architects’ Principal Sandra Gramley was one of the show’s presenters. Sandra currently serves on the AIA San Diego board of directors as secretary/treasurer.
Mackenzie’s study of school design will go to good use at Platt/Whitelaw, where we’re always busy designing new schools, modernizing existing schools and assessing the architectural needs of schools. It’s also a great fit for our close relationship with the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFArch.org).
Congratulations, Mackenzie, for a well-deserved win!
Waney SoCal Real Estate Roundtable
What do architecture firms wish construction and real estate developers knew about design? Platt/Whitelaw Architects’ Principal Naveen Waney is featured in a recent SoCal Real Estate article focused on this topic.
He asks that private developers and public agency clients understand that, “Architecture is an art and a science. Architects continuously educate themselves about emerging technology, materials and health and wellness research that can help achieve a developer’s building goals. By encouraging an architect to provide suggestions and operate as part of a close and continuous partnership, it’s possible to elevate the final outcome.”
He continued, “…every client needs to deliver a building that meets the demands of the end user, and an architect should be an integral component in this process.”
Naveen went on to add, “Design isn’t formulaic or an off-the-shelf service. It’s a process best performed in close synchronization with the client. When an architect works as an extension of a developer, the vision and reality stay closely aligned.”
To read Naveen’s full contribution, check out SoCal Real Estate’s October 2018 issue here.
Gramley SDBJ Interview
Where does San Diego rank as far as certified, sustainable buildings? Platt/Whitelaw Architects’ Principal Sandy Gramley was recently interviewed by Ray Huard at San Diego Business Journal about the state of sustainable design in San Diego.
According to the article, in a recent study by commercial real estate services firm CBRE and Maastricht University in the Netherlands, San Diego was ranked 18 among the country’s 30 largest metropolitan areas in having green-certified office buildings. The study ranked these areas based on the amount of office space that’s been Energy Star or LEED certified. More than 41 percent of commercial space in the 30 top metropolitan regions of the U.S. has been certified as green, but only 29.8 percent of the commercial space in San Diego has been certified.
In San Diego’s defense, Gramley shares that San Diego’s lack of corporate headquarters and mild climate may have something to do with it.
Sandy shared, “There’s a lot of people here (in SD) doing the right thing and working at it. There’s a lot of us in the industry that realize there’s a moral imperative to do the right thing and keep our buildings green and our cities more sustainable.”
Recent changes in California state law and building codes, including the California Green Building Standards Code that took effect in January, are likely to move this process forward significantly. The new code imposes standards that are nearly equal to those required for green certification.
For more about what Sandy and others had to say on this topic, San Diego Business Journal subscribers can read the full article here.